We think we've made our point to Forbes

You can sit around and whine and complain and get nettlesome over the issues of this community.

Or you can embrace the positive aspects, and vow to work on - and possibly change - what is negative.

Many have made the choice - in both directions.

Over the past three months, we've opted for Door No. 2 in a weekly feature called "Forbes: You Call This Misery?"

It was prompted by the negative cross hairs that Forbes magazine once again focused on the city. Forbes named us the nation's "most miserable city" in its annual rankings.

It wasn't the first time we've been in the Top 5. Heck, it wasn't the first time we'd been No. 1.

The difference this time is quite a few people - officials, leaders and regular citizens - fought back.

Gregory Basso made a video about Stockton's positives - along with some shots across the Forbes bow - and it went viral.

Several thousand Stocktonians showed up for a festive "anti-misery" celebration on the Miracle Mile on the Day before Easter. It was a beautiful, fun gathering filled with a bit of collective attitude.

A group aerial photo of those gathered on the Miracle Mile was taken and sent to Forbes editors. The Record ran that photo as its full front page on Easter morning.

Five staff members from The Record have written tributes to the positive aspects of Stockton that have been published each Monday.

They've included words about beautiful Delta scenery, talented spoken-word poets, our first-class baseball stadium, our selection of excellent restaurants and - perhaps most importantly - the rich cultural diversity that is one of our very identifiers.

We're bringing the series to an end today, and not because there isn't enough positive to write about each week - quite the contrary.

It's just that The Record, and Stockton as a whole, has made its collective point to Forbes. It's time to move on.

It's time to continue to celebrate all that is great about Stockton - and to work on fixing those things that need fixing.

Even those who have so vehemently expressed their anger toward Forbes realize that Stockton continues to struggle over such matters as the economy, foreclosures, education and public safety.

And there's no sense in being myopic: We're probably going to be somewhere on Forbes' "miserable" list again next February. The criteria the magazine uses is rather inflexible and once you get on the "list" it's hard to get off.

So let's look at it as a process. Part of that process was not just ignoring Forbes - being, well, list-less, if you will.

Anger and fighting back were positive and unifying factors this time around.

The real answer, however, is to continue to make Stockton a more positive, inviting, educated, safe and vibrant community.

So you can both enjoy and defend Stockton while trying to make it an even better place to live and/or do business.